Real estate: The 8 certificates you are required to have and may not be aware of

From an electrician’s certificate to… a building ID – The list of certificates you must have in your “file” and may be asked for
Certificates, inspections, inspections, and certifications for buildings must “accompany” the property and be issued at the owner’s expense (i.e., without any contribution from the state, which… requires it!).

This is a series of various laws that have recently been enacted in our country and often do not always come to the attention of owners.

However, they find out at the last minute, i.e. when they want to make a transfer, open an account with a public utility company (electricity, water, etc.), make changes, legalize their status, hire civil engineers, etc.

 

POMIDA has compiled all the mandatory certificates relating to the following cases:

  • ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATES FOR BUILDINGS (EPC): Mandatory issuance and attachment of energy certificates every 10 years for each sale or lease of a building, or simple advertising registration, with the fee of energy inspectors freely negotiable.
  • ENERGY CERTIFICATES FOR HEATING INSTALLATIONS: Mandatory inspections of boilers, burners, and air conditioners every 2-4 years, with the inspector’s fee freely negotiable.
  • ENGINEER CERTIFICATES for urban planning legality in all real estate transfer contracts, even for undeveloped properties, (Law 4759/2020), regardless of the existence of arbitrariness, with an undefined and freely negotiable engineer’s fee.
  • DEPENDENT TOPOGRAPHICAL PLANS for transfers and parental gifts of all off-plan properties (Law 4030/2011 on building permits) and declarations to the National Land Registry.
  • CERTIFICATES OF INSPECTION OF NEW BUILDINGS & ADDITIONS (Article 7 of Law 4030/2011, A’ 249) by “building inspectors” with a minimum fee of €450 and a maximum of €3,550.
  • CERTIFICATES OF INITIAL & PERIODIC SAFETY INSPECTIONS of old lifts (Recommendation 95/216 EU) and safety inspections of new lifts (Directive 95/16 EU, with an unspecified fee for an electrical engineer.
  • ELECTRICIAN CERTIFICATES “New type” for periodic inspections of electrical installations, mandatory for every new property connection, with an electrician’s fee that is a multiple of the old one (Law 4483/1965 no. 2, Ministerial Decision F.7.5/1816/88/27.2.2004, Joint Ministerial Decision F A΄50/12081/642/26.7.2006, Ministerial Decision F.50/503/168/19.4.2011, as applicable).
  • BUILDING IDENTITY: Inspections of all existing buildings and each transfer thereof, for the issuance of the “certificate of completeness” of the “building identity,” with fees for inspectors (engineers, mechanics, etc.) of an unspecified amount (Law 3843/2010 and subsequent laws, Law 4759/2020).
    In addition to the above, according to a UIPI survey, the European Union has already initiated the introduction of the following additional building inspections, inspired, of course, by the proposals of the relevant industry and professional organizations, but always… for the benefit of the owners:

 

Recommendation (2001/331): Environmental inspection of commercial properties.

Directive (98/83): Inspection of drinking water quality (lead limits).
Directive (83/477): Inspection of protection of workers from asbestos.
Directive (2007/60): Inspection of flood protection for buildings.

Proposal: Water conservation inspection in buildings (currently rejected by UIPI as lacking social benefit).
Proposal: Inspection of buildings to check greenhouse gas emissions.
Proposal: Inspection of building accessibility for people with disabilities. Proposal: New specifications for elevators.

Stelios Kraloglou